Time is fleeting: all is vanity and illusion! Seventeenth-century Roman composers Carissimi, Rossi, Mazzochi, and Marazzoli were surrounded by the architectural remains of one of the mightiest civilizations the world has ever known. Is it any wonder their themes would embrace the passing of time and the ephemeral nature of physical beauty and pleasure? Enjoy the present, but only the paths of wisdom and virtue lead to Heaven.